Monday, April 26, 2010

Sometimes I run into something cute/funny/pretty/inspiring and simply lovely and I just have to share it with you. Have you ever flipped through the pages of Real Simple and found yourself staring at the designs made out of paper? The artist, Matthew Sporzynski, is one amazing paper constructionist -- I would love that title for myself. I’ve been a bit obsessed with him over the last few years. He has built a career out of constructing the most beautiful paper scenes. It is definitely on the same level as painting any static image and giving that image tremendous depth. His paper work is intricate down to the ruffled detailing of a bed sheet to the little dusting of cocoa on hot chocolate. It is truly awe-inspiring. We see beautiful paper cuts everyday here at Luscious Verde, but maybe it just never sinks in to how detailed our work is. It’s looking at Matthew’s pages in Real Simple to really reflect on what we do here and the level at which we create.

Monday, April 19, 2010

April is the month of rock and roll inductees. Even though the event usually takes place in a much cooler city then Cleveland, we can still take the credit for housing the rock hall. Located downtown, this vast building has layers of goodness. Top-secret performances are always happening for 10 bucks or less. I happened upon the Staple Singers and a Jackson 5 tribute band during a weird rock/gospel/pop/rhythm-and-blues kind of week. This year ABBA gets the big entry key, as well as the Stooges. A shirtless Iggy Pop is never hard to say no to, and Abba is a love ‘em/hate ‘em kind of group. (Although I’m pretty confident that everyone secretly loves ABBA.) Musicians influence design almost as much as designers themselves. Take a look at these two musically inspired custom invitations.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Yes, it's true: Luscious Verde cards are not made in a magical treehouse in Never-Never Land. They are actually made in a fairly nondescript office park in a suburb of Cleveland. In fact, if you've ever seen the film "Office Space" (and why you haven't seen that yet is anyone's guess), that's pretty much the look of the place where our offices are located.

Things have gone pretty smoothly for us here until the last few months, when a man known as Corner Parker entered our lives and sent us on a puzzling journey. We showed up one day at work and there he was: a man who simply refused to park like a normal person. At first, we thought it was funny.

If one of us got here a little early, we would park normally in the middle of the two or three spaces he normally takes up. One time, our head designer Jason actually saw Corner Parker in the wild! Because of that, we know that he's a diminutive fellow who abhors loose-fitting clothing.